OrpheusEurydice1.0353

Jean Anouilh, Eurydice, drama 1941. First performed 1942, Paris. Published in Pièces Brillantes (Paris: La Table Ronde, 1951). Translation by Lothian Small, Antigone and Eurydice: two plays by Jean Anouilh (Methuen: London 1951).

Remarkable application of the myth to real-world circumstances, though a heavy dosage of mythological motivation is still present. Characters: Orpheus, his father (a second-class harpist), Eurydice, her mother, ... and Dulac, the impresario of the traveling band of actors that includes Eurydice and her mother.

An everyman version of the Eurydice myth set in the shabby cafeteria of a provincial train station and a nearby hotel, where Eurydice and Orpheus consumate their union in sincere, if short-lived bliss. Eurydice is a second-class actress who is caught out in the chequered amours of her past, while Orpheus is a fairly talented violinist and son of a streetmusician. After a violent accidental death, Eurydice and Orpheus are reunited under clearly understood instructions forbidding retrospection. As the truth dawns on Orpheus he purposefully kills her by looking at her. This occurs in Act 3 of the 4-act play. The calculation of their reunion is the most fascinating part of the play. CLICK HERE for excerpt from Kitty Black's translation.